Ill, Crafty, and Cheap

I'm sick. Whine whine whine whine whine. I KNOW. But I was just sick in January so to be sick again already is just a pain. I keep reminding myself of all the people in this world who are really sick, who really have something to whine about, and it makes me feel slightly better. Or at least keep my mouth shut. :)

I promise that this entire post will not be about me being sick, but I have one thing to get off my chest first. If I were President, I would overrule whatever stupid laws they wrote to take pseudoephedrine off the market (and I'd smack all those idiot druggies that caused them to pass the laws in the first place). Gimme back my magical quadfecta (hey, you've heard of a trifecta, right?) of cold-pill drugs: pseudoephedrine, guaifenesin, dextromethorphan, and acetaminophen. With all my years of ear troubles I have become somewhat of an expert on cold meds, and this combo of these four drugs is the best thing around. And then a bunch of druggies figured out how to make methamphetamine out of pseudoephedrine and now my beloved cold meds are off the friggin' market. There must be a better way to control this, since I can't imagine that it's actually inhibited the drug manufacturers in the least. And in the meantime, millions of cold-symptom sufferers receive inferior decongestants [fist pounded loudly and with much righteous indignation]. {Achooo!}

Anyway, since I've been logging lots of couch time I've been able to spend a bunch of time on the internet. And a couple of things have been striking me lately as I've been perusing ol' world wide web. First, I think that I do not give myself nearly enough credit for the stuff I know how to do. I tend to forget that not everyone is crafty. I've learned a lot but I think there is also just an inborn craftiness that some people possess and I am one of them; since it's so natural for me I usually forget that not everyone is crafty. So when I stumble upon things on the internet--such as tutorials for potato stamping and felt heart pins--I think, "Ummm, we need a tutorial for this?"


And obviously, according to the many comments on each of these tutorials, the answer is YES. Obviously everyone did not grow up with moms who covered the kitchen table in newspapers and broke out the paints and taught them how to make their own stamps out of potatoes (thanks, Mom!). Obviously everyone does not look at these cute heart pins and automatically have a tutorial pop up in their head. So I should really give myself some credit for all this cool stuff floating around in my brain. I really should. And heck! Maybe one of these days I will write a tutorial myself!

Those heart pins are so stinkin' cute, too. I think they'd make a really sweet mobile like this one from Pottery Barn Kids:


Except I would draw the ribbon down through the middle of the hearts (in between the two layers of felt) instead of just sewing the ribbon to one side of each heart. It would totally be cuter that way. If I get well in time to make this for Valentine's Day I just might do it and hang it over the dining table. I love hearts {and love!}!

The other thing that has been striking me as I've been wandering through internet land is, "Seriously? People will pay that much for that? Do they not know we're in a recession? Do they not know how little a freakin' Barbie actually costs?" Okay, the Barbie comment only came when I looked at one little etsy shop. One little shop where these two pairs of earrings


sell for $110. For each pair. (!) Is kitsch really that valuable? If anyone is interested in these earrings, please let me know. I will hook you up. Half price! :P

I know how mean I probably sound, and I don't mean to be mean. More power to the seller if she can sell this stuff at these prices (and based on her sales numbers, she can)! But buyers? Hellooooo? If my friend showed me these cool Barbie hand earrings she just bought for $110, I would have a hard time not smacking her upside the head. I do really like the Have a Heart Bust Pendant; I think it's clever and cute and funny. But for $180 it will not be going into my shopping cart. And The Kiss is genius; I'm sure somebody will snap it up (but for $525 it will surely not be me; not even if it were $125. Maybe if it were $25, but I'm cheap).

My friend Paulette recently forwarded me an e-mail full of lovely gift ideas and asked if I could make one of the items contained therein. She's super sweet and loves the rings but said she'd rather have them made by someone who's special to her. Is that the sweetest or what? Anyway, the price of these beauties in the e-mail made me gasp and I think I'll be able to do them for a fraction of the price. I can't wait to get the supplies in!

Did anyone out there try to order the Project 365 Kit of the Month from Becky Higgins and not get one? I accidentally got two (in my flurry of hitting refresh over and over, trying to get my order in) so if anyone wants one let me know and you can cover the cost for one of them.

Today I saw a commercial for the 20th anniversary of... get this... The Simpsons. Am I really that old? Cowabunga, dude! According to The Simpsons' official site, "Now the longest-running in television history, The Simpsons is celebrating two decades with a one-year celebration culminating on January 14, 2010, the 20-year anniversary of the series' debut!" So I guess it's only 19 years old. Whew! For a minute there I really thought I was getting old. :P

See you tomorrow for Favorite {Photo} Friday!